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By David Norman.
Golf 'Competitive Mental Toughness' Coach to PGA Tour Pro's.
In his TV interview after winning the 2000 US Open at Pebble Beach
in June, I was astonished to hear Tiger confirm to the world what
I have long suspected: Quote; "I had a sense of calm that
I haven't had in a while. It was reminiscent of Augusta in '97.
I felt very tranquil, very calm, even amongst the stormy conditions
yesterday. I still felt very peaceful inside no matter what happened
out there, I was able to keep my cool, composure and focus 100%
on each shot". He is talking about being fully 'in the zone',
'in the moment', 'AT WILL/UNDER HIS CONTROL' for every single shot!
Most golfers I suspect, even the world's top players, would not
attach much, if any, significance to this, which is probably why
he said it. Yet it is one of the key secrets or cornerstones to
his astounding success. With a record breaking 15 shot lead, or
nearly an average 4 stroke per round advantage (6%) over the cream
of world class players, by playing a very different game, certainly
a different and more sophisticated mental game, he maybe unconsciously
/ unwittingly be taunting them?
Furthermore, with an amazing nearly two (1.72) stroke average
lead over the next best player in the PGA rankings, and only a
0.3 stroke spread separating 2nd and 10th, and a nearly 3 stoke
average (2.87) advantage over Lee Westwood in Europe (with the
European spread being 0.75 between first and tenth). Furthermore,
in the eight main PGA tour stats categories, Tiger is top in four
of them, and in the top five in two more!
Using the world ranking points for example, this disparity is
even more staggering. The number two in the world, David Duval
(with 10.99 points) on this basis is only 40% as good as Tiger
(26.8 points), with Monty a close third (10.16 points), never mind
the trail of other 'world class' players in their wake. The 100th
player (1.79 points) in the rankings, is only a little over 5%
as good as Tiger. There can be few, if any sports in the world,
where the performance gap is so wide, and is likely to remain so,
at the very top of the sport.
There can be no doubt whosoever, as many commentators have noted,
that HE IS playing a different game. But just what is this game?
The game that separates him from the rest of the field? He is quite
simply playing a far more sophisticated mental game. Than ALL the
top PGA players, and has mastery of a mental game, that in my experience,
the average PGA tour pro does not even begin to comprehend. If
you want similar results, do similar things. eg. like keep working
hard on your game!! For different results, you must do different
things. Extraordinary 'mental toughness' mastery separates Tiger
from other players. There are seven areas of his mental game in
which he is a superior performer.
One of these is an advanced and comprehensive 'mental' preshot
routine (which goes far beyond, the totally ineffective, yet typical
grip and waggle adjustment routine - about 1% of what's important).
A way to think about an advanced preshot routine is like baking
a cake. To get the best, most consistent and repeatable quality
you must follow the recipe. You need 1. measured quantities of
2. specified ingredients and 3. mixed and applied in the recommended
order. This involves creating, installing and following a tried-and-tested
sequence of detailed mental instructions. For Woods, mental mastery
includes having learned a range of sophisticated competencies applied
to a routine that works well and can be trusted, especially when
in serious contention.
He will be able to make fine distinctions (called submodalities)
in; pictures in his 'minds-eye', sounds in his 'minds-ear' and
feelings in his body, as well as using rapid and reliable memory
access, imagination, future-pacing and time-distortion. It also
involves, energy directionalising (to maintain swing balance, and
the real secret behind Woods distance and accuracy off the tee,
etc.), precise 'altered state' anchoring and management (eg. calmness,
composure, tranquillity, confidence, etc.), synesthesia linking
(eg. target and swing, etc.), advanced uptime, downtime, in-the-moment
and zoning concentration skills (eg. cut out crowd and other distractions,
sharp focus on what you want, etc.), and much else. Why does all
this matter? Quite simply at this level (or at any level for that
matter) a consistent, sophisticated, robust and fully repeatable
high quality routine means precise shot placement for EVERY shot.
Whatever and wherever the course, conditions and hazards, competitive
pressure, etc.
Whilst there are many sophisticated elements to the design, refinement,
installation and mastery of this preshot routine. In reality it
is relatively simple and easy to coach any player who is interested
in learning and mastering it. Furthermore, the transformation of
their performance and scores will be both immediate and dramatic.
At whatever level they play. From top PGA tour pro's to the average
club player.
With Wood's unbeatable 'composite' armoury of mental knowledge
and skills, beyond physical injury and fatigue, it is most unlikely
he will ever lose form over an extended period, in the way other
top players with exceptional natural talent, dedication and hard
work, though sadly held back by flawed 'mental' strategies, like;
Ian Baker-Finch, Seve Ballesteros, Greg Norman, Chip Beck, Sandy
Lyle and Nick Faldo, have been. And why also, ALL the up and coming
(media touted) pretenders to the Tiger crown, lacking sophisticated
mental toughness skills, will in all probability NEVER fulfil their
potential.
After all, I understand that only three winners of the US amateur
championship over the past 50 years, have eventually gone on to
win a major. An abysmal 6% success rate? Without exception, all
these extraordinary golfing prodigies demonstrated exceptional
talent, well-honed skills and a proven record of competitive success.
What is less obvious, and which can now be remedied for players
of all levels, is the resilience and effective development of their
mental game. Can you imagine, everybody who wants to, playing their
game on a different level?
It begs the question, if mental toughness, resilience, fitness
and mastery is the key to sustained extraordinary peak-performance,
why do so few bother to work seriously on their mental game? Perhaps,
as many have discovered, academic sports psychologists, inner-game
coaches, personal development trainers, or whoever, simply do not
have the advanced, state-of-the-art knowledge, skills and practical
experience to guarantee rapid measured performance improvement.
MIND4Golf do. ANY player can now learn and apply these mental mastery
secrets. The ONLY criteria to success, quite simply, are having
an open mind to these approaches.
The writer of this short article is David Norman, a successful
golf psychologist, 'competitive mental toughness' skills trainer
and performance coach to several of the world's top PGA tour players.
A professionally qualified psychologist, hypnotherapist, psychotherapist,
and internationally certified trainer and master practitioner of
NLP. A regular writer and panellist for Golf Monthly (UK) and has
appeared on Sky TV Golf Extra. Runs public 'Mental keys for success
in golf'’ seminars/clinics, corporate golf day keynote briefings
and one-day events.
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| © MIND4Golf Academy 2004 |
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